An open letter to my childhood best friend:
It’s your birthday this week, and I’ve realized that we’ve been friends for over half of our lives. Through the years and the seasons, you’ve continued to be a rock for me. A rock who happens to live across the street. And all I can say to you is: Thank-you.
Thank you for understanding.
For listening when I complained about my grade school problems like math tests and mile runs in P.E. (OK, I might still complain about those). For understanding my quirky family and happily hanging out and loving us anyway. For letting me spill everything about that boy to you and patiently listening when I said I was over him when you knew I wasn’t. And for coming over at 2 a.m. to kill the wolf spider in my room because you knew I cannot deal. You’ve always got me.
Thank you for being a voice of wisdom.
For having conversations about world issues and human rights while playing rounds of Sorry. For keeping me from switching high schools. For teaching me to test my beliefs and think about my opinions. For not letting other people’s opinions define me. For helping me to see life from a new perspective.
Thank you for investing in me.
For truly caring about my dreams and my life. For braving all odds to come to my school events even though we went to different schools, whether it was a spring concert in third grade or my senior thesis. For flying two states away to visit me at college. For coming to my brother’s wedding and for watching my dog on vacation. For supporting my dreams even when yours are put on hold.
Thank you for being uniquely you.
For walking backwards to your school every morning just so you could watch the sunrise. For buying everything online and then having to return it all because it never fits. For turning every walk into a nature walk by pointing out every single plant I’d never noticed before. For playing barefoot in the snow and building igloos. For working a job most women don’t and loving it. For defeating every level of every Mario game we own and for not being mad when you fall off Rainbow Road. Again.
Thank you for growing up with me.
For seeing me at every stage of maturity and still loving me. For living close by so I could head over every day after school. For playing pool and throwing darts while listening to your karaoke machine. For the bog adventures and the cross country croquet games. For the school changes and drivers licenses. For the pet crises and the summers apart. For the broken bones and the summer spent in a wheelchair. For the late night donut runs and Lord of the Rings marathons EVERY. WEEKEND. For never letting our friendship fade.
And so, thank you for always being someone I can come home to.
Because the best friendships are the kinds you can pick up right where you left off.
Here’s to the next half of our lives.
